


Prélude à la Royauté

by EmpatheticAnalyst



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Diary/Journal, Eventual Relationships, M/M, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:06:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpatheticAnalyst/pseuds/EmpatheticAnalyst
Summary: Prince is a defect Elsen, only allowed to live amongst the Standards because of divine intervention. For the most part, his life is simple and solitary. At least, until he meets a strange, silent man on his way home from work.
Relationships: The Batter/Elsen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Prélude à la Royauté

**Author's Note:**

> This story operates under the headcannon that the big elsen in the Room is where all of the other, smaller elsen come from. 
> 
> https://tzalmavet.tumblr.com/post/180152858701/some-more-from-my-daniel-elsen-is-the-big-elsen
> 
> This story is very heavily inspired by this post and conversations with my dear friend Tzalmavet. Go check out their blog!

_Thursday, March 18th,_

_I have this reoccurring dream._

He was a pathetic little creature, wearing sallow skin stretched over fragile bone. Unable to draw breath, he twitched like a dying moth, little hands clenched against his thin chest. The janitor grimaced, nudging him with a broom, as he watched the newly formed elsen give a gurgling, wet cough.

_It always starts with my lungs feeling as though they're full of plastic. I'm alone in some vast, empty room, and all around me are quiet murmurings. It's terrifying._

This one would be going to the incinerator for certain. The sorters had better things to do than bother with what was clearly a defect, and it would be kinder to put the doomed creature out of its misery anyways.

It wasn't even worth calling someone over. 

The janitor grabbed the little elsen by his scrawny arm, effortlessly dragging him towards the furnace room. Exhausted from a long day of hard work, he was almost glad the defect had come out small. 

_Then, I can feel hands on me. Something starts hauling me off, and if I wasn't unable to breathe, I'd be hyperventilating. I kick and try to scream, but nothing comes out._

The janitor grimaced. He hated when they tried to fight. The tiny defect gagged and thrashed as though trying to escape the grasp of death itself, but he could tell that it was beginning to weaken. A healthy elsen would have taken his first breath by then.

_All of the sudden, it starts to get dark. I'm running out of air. I'm going to die. But by the time black spots are starting to creep into my vision, I see him._

As a chill ran through him, the janitor became aware that he was being watched. High above them, the elsen could almost make out the eyes of their creator. Daniel Elsen stared down at the two of them, seemingly interested in the tiny defect he was dragging along. 

With a sound like cracking bones and squelching meat, the leviathan creature knelt down to get a better look. 

_The huge man watches me with giant, electrical eyes, a being of almost godlike stature. His stare is like cold water on my face, waking me from death, as he reaches out to me._

"What's wrong with him?" The Room seemed to shudder at the massive being's deep, raspy timbre.

"I-I-I don't know, s-sir." The janitor stammered, as Elsen prods the defect with a single, huge finger, "He just came out like this." 

_He touches me with his fingertip, and suddenly, I can breathe._

After a moment of silence, Daniel cradled the little creature in his long fingers, and rubbed his thumb along the defect's belly. The Creator was satisfied when his child coughed up a mass of unspeakable grey goo. 

_I don't know how, but I know the giant man loves me. His wide eyes are full of joy and pride when he looks at my wretched body._

The janitor grimaced, as Daniel gently set the gasping elsen down next to him. The defect's shiny black eyes cracked open, and he blinked away the exhaustion that had threatened to overcome him, drawing ragged breaths.

"Precious." The great being murmured, as he gently stroked his creation's soft head. Had the defect been a valuable newborn, the sight would have been tender. 

Now the janitor was going to have to deal with a tongue lashing from the staff that would have to allow a failure into the zones.

Weakly, he janitor nodded, "I'll call the staff over right away. Thank you, sir." 

Nodding, Elsen rose, still watching his tiny sons.

_Sometimes I want to feel like he's out there somewhere, thinking about me. About how I turned out, and what I do for a living. I think it would be nice to have someone out there who actually cares._

The janitor grimaced, as one of the Staff Members neared. He held up his hands.

"Don't you lecture me, Calipers, I can't help that He saw!" 

Calipers rolled his eyes at the janitor's frantic whisper, "Whatever. Is it breathing?" 

They glanced at the defect, who looked exhausted and woozy. Janitor nodded. 

"Seems so... He's a tad too small, isn't he? I figured he had some kind of lung deformity." 

Calipers sneered down at it, "Hmph. Well, we can't dispose of it. Elsen will be asking about it later, and The Queen knows none of the others can lie worth a damn." 

He grabbed the little defect by the wrist, hauling him up to unsteady feet. He barely came up to Calipers' chin. 

"Come on then, defect. Let's get you to the bloody placing office." 

And with that, the Staffman lead him away.

_After that, the details are hazy. Sometimes I remain dreaming, and sometimes I wake up. Once I thought I saw myself sitting in a great big filing room, though I'm not sure._

_It's just a dream, but it feels so vivid. Sometimes, when I'm helping with the cows, it feels like my chest is aching, and I can't breathe, just like in my dreams._

_I wonder... If the big man saw me now, would he care to help me again?_


End file.
